Renato Fonti, Palace's chief financial officer was addressing about 50 members of the Friends of the Astor Association on Saturday, and attempting to allay lingering concerns that the company had a secret agenda to turn the art deco single-screen cinema into a mini-multiplex.

The Astor Cinema in St Kilda. Photo: Eddie Jim.

Palace has proposed to buy the chattels owned by Mr Florence, who has run the Astor Theatre since 1982, and to retain his services – they say for as long as he likes – as a programming consultant after his lease expires in May.

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Mr Florence owns the projectors, the screen and some of the seats as well as the Astor Theatre business name and associated goodwill, though he does not own the neon sign on the front of the building. He also owns, through a separate entity, Chapel Distribution, about 600 film prints that he would presumably rent out to Palace if it were to operate the venue.

For many, the deal represents the best hope of saving the Astor as a single-screen art deco venue for the projection of film on film (alongside digital).

But for those in the Florence camp, the only way to guarantee the cinema continues to operate as it has is for Ralamar to sell it and for the new purchaser to transfer ownership to an independent trust.

Last weekend, however, the Astor's web and Facebook pages carried a note acknowledging no such patron had yet stepped forward.

"We are very disappointed that there has been no support offered from any wealthy arts benefactor nor any attempt by a Government or Council agency to avert the inevitable demise of The Astor Theatre."

The note suggested the end of the Astor was nigh. "Although we have tried every avenue to secure the business you know as The Astor Theatre, all attempts have failed and we must now resign ourselves to the fact that our last scheduled screening will be on April 5, 2015."

An outpouring of grief soon followed on the theatre's Facebook page. "It literally makes me want to cry," wrote one long-time customer. "I can't even imagine having to go to another cinema and nor will I."

"This is so sad," wrote another. "Loosing [sic] another great Melbourne Icon do [sic] to one man's greed."

Except that Friends of the Astor, Palace and Ralamar all argue that's not about to happen. If George Florence strikes a deal, the business will continue, and he will continue, if he wants, to have a role in it.

Mr Florence's people, though, read this as a sell-out. "We set up the Friends of the Astor to be a vocal group of supporters of the business known as The Astor Theatre," their most recent post stated. "Unfortunately there has been a shift of philosophy within that organisation's committee and they no longer consider that they are there to protect The Astor Theatre – but to protect the premises it operates out of."

According to Friends of the Astor president Vanda Hamilton, that's simply unrealistic.

"We are a community group, we can't support anyone's business. It would be illegal for us to do so, and it would be wrong," she told Saturday's meeting. "We have a watching brief, so when the parties make statements they know there are people who will hold them accountable to those statements."

Although the future of the Astor remains in the balance, one thing was made clear. In a statement read to the meeting, Ralamar said it had "never considered or entertained the idea of redevelopment or rebuilding at 1-9 Chapel Street, St Kilda, which houses the Astor Theatre. Our intention has always been to keep it as it is, as a cinema."